Senate Republicans are real profiles in courage.
Tuesday, Senate Republicans voted down Democratic amendments calling for the Keystone XL pipeline to be
built with American-made steel and for the oil it transports to be kept in the United States,
not exported. Wednesday, they're expected to vote down two separate amendments
affirming that climate change is real:
Sen. Brian Schatz’s (D-Hawaii) short amendment states that “climate change is real; and human activity significantly contributes to” it, and the second, from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), says that climate change is “real and not a hoax.”
Republicans are
trying to protect themselves from negative consequences on these amendments through procedural maneuvering—rather than voting yes or no on the substance of the amendments, they're voting to table them, blocking them from getting a vote on the substance. But a vote to kill an amendment calling for American materials to be used on what you're calling a jobs bill is still a vote against the use of American materials. A vote to kill an amendment saying that climate change is not a hoax is still a vote against the Senate recognizing that climate change is real. "I didn't vote against American-made materials, I voted against holding a vote on whether the materials should be American-made" isn't going to trick voters into not realizing you were opposed to the American-made materials.
That's Senate Republicans for you: They don't want to create additional jobs or admit that climate change is real, but they're not quite brave enough to just be honest about what they're doing when they vote those things down.
1:59 PM PT: This is special. The Whitehouse amendment saying that "climate change is real and not a hoax" passed 98 to one—after climate denier Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma co-sponsored it, saying that climate change is real but "The hoax is that there are some people who are so arrogant to think that they can change climate."
2:27 PM PT: And no surprise here, Schatz's amendment saying that climate change is not only real but caused by humans failed, with 50 votes in favor and 49 against.